DH's job comes with a house - should we rent or sell ours?

[Catslovepies]

DH is getting a new job that comes with a house. We have a house nearby already - it's a really nice house with 4 bedrooms, 3 reception rooms, a lovely garden, and the mortgage is nearly paid off. We need to figure out whether to rent out our house or sell it. If we sell it, I think we'd buy a flat in London that we could use for probably every other weekend to enjoy time in the big city, go to the theatre, etc. I would probably end up spending more time in the flat than DH because I can work from home. I love London and I think it would also be nice as far-flung friends would be more likely to come and stay, and there is so much to do there. I don't think I want to live there full time but for a bolt hole it would be great.

We do want to have a property of our own rather than keep the money in savings. DH reckons he will stay at his job for at least 5 years, and it's a very stable job. And because of the type of job it is, we wouldn't have to pay capital gains tax on our existing house when we sell it regardless of whether we had lived there recently or not.

We've never been landlords before and don't know exactly what it entails. Also I'm a higher rate tax payer and I guess a lot of the rent we received would go in taxes. Maintenance of the house would probably be more expensive than the London flat, but then we'd have to pay council tax, utilities and service charges for London. So London would be more expensive but we'd get something out of it in terms of enjoyment. It's a really tough decision and I'm struggling to make up my mind what to do. Any advice welcome, please.

My job is on that list and the advice is to keep a property. If you want to sell then work out the buying and selling costs which may be more than you think. I rented out the family house and got a good agent to manage it for me. Mostly the tenants have been good. Depending on what it brings in plan time away from the property in hotels and B&Bs as living in tied housing has its own set of challenges.

If you are a vicar I would buy where you want to live afterwards then rent it out for now

London flat sounds like a good idea though avoid buying in a building where you have to pay crazy management fees!

Wandsworth is a relatively large borough, you could class some parts of it as a suburb. The suburbs of london are generally zones 4-5.

Putney is in Zone 2 and across the bridge from Fulham it is close enough to “central london” and is definitely not a suburb. I would classify Fulham/Chelsea as centralish london.

Anyway I dont think OP should invest in a flat regardless as downsizing if the job falls through/ after 5 years would be difficult.

I wouldn’t buy the London flat unless it forms part of a retirement plan - in which case I’d get a small mortgage on it to stretch the budget, since you have 10-15 years ish potential further work years.

Is that you, who wondered if she should wear a posh scarf in the husbands interview? He got the job then? Am pleased for you. You do make me laugh with your dilemmas and I mean this nicely!! If it's not you ignore this message . Oh and don't sell the house, rent it.

Not me, @miraveile 😁

Thanks again for a the replies. I'm still confused to be honest. If I did choose London then I'm leaning towards waiting a bit for prices to stabilise and then selling and buying in London (as the predictions I've seen say that prices in London will drop more than prices where we are currently in the Northwest).

Maybe we should go for a 2 bedroom. I like the idea of being mortgage free if we stuck to £500k, but we could get another mortgage if we wanted to. Based on what the calculators say, we could theoretically have a much higher budget (up to £1 million) but would never want to go anywhere near that. It would knock out being able to retire early and we'd have to scrimp and save to afford it. But maybe a small additional mortgage wouldn't be the end of the world.

In terms of what we'll want to do in retirement, I'm not sure. But I think London would give us a lot of options- we could rent it out and travel using the income, or for shorter term we could do house swaps all over the world. I also sadly do think about what I would want if I lost DH as his health isn't as good as mine. In that case I think I'd want the London flat rather than the big house. We just don't need a big house really, as much as we do love it. And with energy prices as high as they are I like the idea of cheaper fuel bills in a London flat.

@PyjamaDuddlejuck I tried to pm you but got an error. If you're able to pm me the areas you'd recommend please I'd be very grateful.

I would buy the flat in London. House prices of course fluctuate but it’s unlikely London prices will dramatically reduce more than everywhere else. Renting out is a lot of effort and bound to come with unexpected costs.

Putney, Barnes etc are inner London suburbs.

They are not the Greater London suburbs like Harrow, Havering and Bromley.

I think it depends OP on whether your DH will always be in houses with the job from now on, if he’s in the church for example. Or whether this is a one off.

If you’re going to need to move back to a house and you want to stay in the area then you might as well keep that one.

If as above, then you might as well sell and buy a place in London.

Keep the house for the time being. Tied housing has disadvantages - I would never take a job again that involves living on the job in tied housing!

Rent the house out - presumably unfurnished as you'll take your stuff with you. In 3-5 years time, if the job has worked out, then think again. A house may be a better bet long term as you'll have somewhere to move back to if you needed to.

I'm intrigued by the comment that Putney is not a suburb. It's an inner suburb surely?
apparently suburb is a dirty word 😆

Its not a dirty word its just untrue in the reality of things😂 I personally think inner london has expanded to include areas like fulham, clapham, shepherds bush, maida hill etc these aren’t suburbs anymore by the classic definition because they’re so built up. Just an opinion, we are moving to zone 5 and it definitely feels like the suburbs there 😣

Clapham is still quite leafy, isn't it, especially between the commons? It's the reason I like it even though the transport links aren't great. Fulham is much better for getting into central London quickly but isn't as green.

I'm really leaning towards the London flat! Yes we could rent our house out but rents aren't that high where we are and I think we'd be left with very little after taxes, management fees, and maintenance.

I'm near Clapham & yes some parts are more built up but some are very leafy & the streets looks no different to zone 5.

You’ve misunderstood.

Inner London has not expanded - all the places you list have always been inner London. I think you’re confusing central and inner London. As I said in my post ^ there are inner London suburbs and outer London suburbs.

Do it then. There’s much to be said for the quality of life of being able to stay in London easily. You can Airbnb it for income when you’re not there - which could fund lots of theatre and restaurant trips.

I would focus on conversion flats to avoid leases that don’t allow you to sublet (ie Airbnb) and also high service charges.

Putney is a suburb. Central London would be Soho, Covent Garden, Bloomsbury, Marylebone, Paddington, Holborn, the City, Westminster and possibly some parts just south of the river like Borough, Waterloo, Lambeth.

£500K is not enough for a very central flat, so I’d hang onto the house and rent it out, but get some advice on capital gains tax when you sell it.

There are leafy areas within central london too but anyway, it seems i am outnumbered so putney is an inner suburb, with tonnes of traffic and a huge amount of built up flats. I still think those areas are central enough and have quick connections to central for it to be worth buying a flat, to say because something isnt located in Marylebone isnt worth buying makes no sense to me @CraftyClara

OP clapham is lovely, look at Balham too and i strongly advise putney as well 😃being biased

I still think those areas are central enough and have quick connections to central for it to be worth buying a flat, to say because something isnt located in Marylebone isnt worth buying makes no sense to me

I agree, it’s not central London or nothing.

Clapham’s ok but Fulham, Putney, Barnes, Chiswick are nicer.

Also consider West Hampstead - it’s on the Jubilee super fast into central London.

Maybe push your budget a little bit and get a 2 bed somewhere you like - you shouldn't need to spend too much more to get that extra bedroom

Not to start London definition wars but I lived in Putney for years and wouldn't call it inner London (though I'm sure some would!). I also lived most of my life in Hammersmith which I would consider inner. We used to define what was central by the old phone numbers as they were initially defined by their distance from the centre! Anyway I digress!

If you wish to buy in London (yes!), then the starting point (since you don't care about schools and such) is to buy the flat somewhere on or close to the main train line that gets you into central London. I assume you will be coming in by train. Which is the London train station you get into and your train line?

It is nice not to have to change trains.

Chiswick and Barnes?!
they are barely London. You might as well be in Surrey for how long it takes to get into Central London

If you want to buy in London for friends to come and experience London, for gods sake don’t plonk yourself in Chiswick and Barnes. Unless they are all arriving by plane and want to be near Heathrow

OP, Ive lived in Fulham, and Clapham/Clapham junction, and the latter is better connected and quicker to get into the west end.
The District line is slow and busy at the best of times, and a total shitshow when Chelsea are playing at home
Between the commons is absolutely lovely, and Northcote road is amazing but it’s pricey and £500k won’t buy you much around there
As pp said, Balham might be worth a look but it does feel more suburban

😂

Barnes is 20 mins to Waterloo then to 1 stop Embankment (Traf square), 2 to Charing Cross, 3 to Leicester Square.

Chiswick is 15 mins to Knightsbridge, High Street Ken, South Ken, Sloane Square, Victoria, 25 to Westminster.

I don’t personally like Clapham and I’ve spent a lot of time there. The commons are very urban and dominated by traffic and main roads. Northcote Road does nothing for me at all.

Here’s a map.